Hiiiii! For the fic writers questions:

37. Promote one of your own “deep cut” fics (an underrated one, or one that never got as much traction as you think it deserves!). What do you like about it?

45. What’s something you’ve improved on since you started writing fic?

Hiii! Thanks so much for asking!

This got a little away from me so answers under the cut.

37. Be warned on this one it's an MCD fic, so please mind the tags. It's called Hallowed Ground and it was based on some gorgeous art (which is linked in the A/N of the fic). It's a Supernatural, Destiel fic set post-season 13 where Michael was possessing Dean and Cas goes after him to try and save him. And it doesn't go well. Hallowed Ground - Chapter 1 - Tibbins - Supernatural [Archive of Our Own]

It's been a long time since I wrote it but I think it's the most 'deep cut' fic I have (Aside from the Harry Potter fic where it's just about me wandering around Hogwarts). I remember being so proud of capturing what I felt at the time to be a very powerful and painful moment. I even made myself emotional while writing it. And a friend of mine quoted a particular line from it about grief that she said was very impactful. Which means a lot as she herself is a brilliant writer. 45. I'm sure over the years I've improved in countless ways. When I was 9 I won a writing competition at a local bookstore with a quaint story called 'The Beach'. It was a ridiculous and silly story with terrible spelling and grammar and I partially believe the judges only picked me over the 16-year-old competitors because they thought it would be cute and good press to give the winning prize to the youngest finalist. I've come a long way since then (and I'm in a contemplative mood so I apologise for the rambling). My first fanfic, looking back, was horrific mary-sue cringe where the main villain wasn't even present in the fic until the final chapter. Every fanfic since has been slightly better. In the basics of spelling, grammar and formatting, yes, but also learning how to craft a story. Most of my early works were relatively short. I found myself most comfortable writing dialogue and small character moments missing from or only implied by canon. Limited characters, plot only in the sense of where it fits in the canon story.

This might be the thing I've most worked on. A lot of my Supernatural fics are like this. That is my writing comfort zone. Getting into the D&D show Critical Role (and the game itself) however, made me want to try expanding to an ensemble cast and test myself with more long-form story, and gave me a fresh perspective on how to go about doing it. So I gave it a go with Supernatural in 'The Final Season: Home is Where One Starts From' and with Critical Role in 'Tangled Threads' and they are both the fics I've worked the hardest at, and the ones I am most proud of for the work I put in.

This is something I want to practise more, when I have the time and the ideas to spare. These feel closest to the kinds of things I love to read. And intriguing plot but focused on character and often the 'found-family' dynamic. It is this style I will likely adopt if I ever think of an idea for an original, non-fan fiction book.

But the more I improve and experiment with, the more I realise how valuable 'The Beach' was. And I miss the aspect of my childhood brain that wasn't restrained by what 'makes sense' or 'is realistic'. The ideas I so quickly and so automatically dismiss that they have been mostly filtered out.

Perhaps I should work on that next.